Manassas Park Native Earns College Degree

Manassas Park daughter Shannon N. Swanson earned a bachelor's degree in English this month from the University of Mary Washington.

Shannon is one of 1,193 students who graduated from the university on May 11 and May 12. The school's 101st commencement was held on the university's Fredericksburg campus.

Shawn Boyer, the founder and CEO of snagajob.com delivered the commencement address to the university's graduate students on May 11, while Neil Howe, a history and best-selling author, addressed the undergraduate students the next day.

The university awarded 73 Master of Business Administration degrees, 102 Master of Education degrees and 21 Master of Science in Management Information Systems. 

Thirty Master of Science in Elementary Education degrees were awarded, along with 463 Bachelor of Arts degrees, 41 Bachelor of Liberal studies degrees, 80 Bachelor of Professional studies degrees and 379 Bachelor of Science degrees. Four graduates received both the MBA and the MSMIS in a dual-degree program.

The University of Mary Washington is a public liberal arts and sciences university. 

The university, with a total enrollment of more than 5,000, features colleges of business, education and arts and sciences, and three campuses, including a residential campus in Fredericksburg, a second one in nearby Stafford and a third in Dahlgren, Va., which serves as a center of development of educational and research partnerships between the Navy, higher education institutions and the region's employers.

In recent years, the university has garnered national recognition in numerous selective guidebooks, including Forbes, the Fiske Guide to Colleges and the Princeton Review's edition of 150 "Best Value Colleges" and "The Best 376 Colleges."